Load-handling apparatus.



A. C. MENTZER & H. ELDUPREY. LoA'D HANDLING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED APR.3. |915.

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. to greatly facilitate the handlin i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT C. MENTZER AND ROBERT E. D UPBEY, F HUD-SON, 'MASSACHUSETT Vof which the following'is a specification.

This invention relates to load handling apparatus, the broad object in view being of merchandise and materials of all kin s, and effect a valuable saving of time, enabling an ordinary motor truck, for example, to make manyjmore trips per day than may now be accomdplished ,where the truck has to be loade and unloaded in each' .trip back and forth between thesourceof supply and the More specifically stated, the object of the resent invention 1s to' provide means wherey a loaded body may be quickly transferred from a4 stationary supporting base to a wheeled supporting base and v1ce versa, the said wheeled supporting -base resemblingin its general character a truck. By means .of

theconstruction hereinafter described, the

wheeled supporting' base may be quickly loaded and unloaded by cheap help, requir in only a few minutes and therefore enabing a merchant, for example, to keep the truck moving from place to place.

With the above and other objects in view, lthe invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of arts, as herein described, illustrated and clalmed. i In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a st ationary sup orting base or stand, a wheeled su porting aseor truck, and the transferablb bod adapted to be slid from one sup- Porting ase to the other, said body being hown as resting upon the stationary supporting base.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the body after the same has been transferred to the wheeled supporting base.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the body at about a middle point in its movement 'rom one supportingbase to the other.

Fig. 4 is an underneath perspective view of the body.

Fig. 5 isa plan view o f the body support. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section ilustrating the manner of using the draft Specification ot Letters Patent. i

Patented Aug. 20, 1918.

Application led April 3, 1915. Serial No. 18,993.

rope and Windlass and also illustrating the function of the ran e adjusting screws.

Referring to the cawings A and B designate supporting bases, the supporting base A being shown in the form of a statlonary stand preferably of stout construction so as to su port a heavy load. The supporting base, is shown in the form of a truck provlded with carrying wheels 1. The supporting base B may consist either of a simple hand operated truck or a truck adapted to be moved by draft animals or a motor truck of the present day type.

Mounted upon each of the supporting bases A and B is a body support V2 while 3 designates a load carrying body which is transferable from one body support to the other. Each body. Support 2 is pivotally mounted at 4 on its supporting base thereby adapting said body support to tilt for the purpose of enabling the adjacent ends of two 'abutting `body supports to be brought into the same horizontal plane in order to facilitate the transfer of the body 3 by a sliding movement from one body support to the other.

The transferable body 3 is also of stout construction as shown 1n' Fig. 4, the same comprising a platform 5 transversely extending knees 6 and longitudinally extending stringers 7 parallel to each other and connecting 'said knees, 8 designating metalshoes or runners secured to the bottom faces of the stringers 7 and having their opposite end portions curved upwardly as shown at 9 in the form of ordinar sleigh runners in order to facilitate the sliding of the transferable body from one body support to another.

In order to reduce friction to a minimum and enable the transferable body to be quickly slid with its load from one supporting base 'to the other and in order also to properly guide said transferable body. each body su )port 2 is provided with Hanged guide ralls 10, the flanges of which extend upwardly so as to embrace the stringers 7 and runners or shoes S of the transferable' body. Arranged between the flanges of the rails 10 and located at suitable intervals apart in the length thereof are anti-friction elements 11 which may consist of rollers or balls adapted to directly contact with the shoes or runners 8. Therefore, the transferable body rolls easily upon said anti-friction i the transferable body, two of said hooks 16 being preferably employed and arranged at opposite ends of the body to"'enable the latter to be drawn by means of the windlass in either direction. The windlass may be located centrally of the supporting base or at one end thereof as may be preferred and as illustrated in the drawings.

The adjacent ends of the body Supports 2 are adapted to be sustained at the same or approximately the lsame level for the purpose above stated by means of supporting screws 17 which have a threaded engagement with the supporting base in each case, the upper ends of said screws` servin as stops andsupports for the adjacent en s of the tilting body supports. The 'purpose of this portion of the invention is to enable the body support of either supporting base to be adjusted or tilted at the necessary angle to bring the same into a common level with the adjacent end of vthe other body support in accordance with the weight of the load imposed on the wheeled supporting base, it eing understood that in the case of a motor truck or the like, the body thereof varies in elevation in accordance with the load thereon.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying dvawin it will now be understood that if the y 3 has been loaded either upon a stationary supportin base or a wheeled supporting base, said oad carrying body may be easil transferred with a minimum amount of e fort, in proportion to the load thereon, by merely pushing, drawing or otherwise sliding said transferable body from one sup' porting base to the other or from one body support to the other. It re uires but a few minutes to effect the trans er of the-load carrying body and thereby greatly reduces the time during which a motor truck, for example, remains idle. In other words, it is not necessary to unload the truck in the manner usually employed but all that is required is to shift the entire load by means of the load carrying body from one supporting base to the adjoining supporting base.

What we claim is 1. In load handling apparatus, the cornbination of two supporting bases one of which is movable in relation to the other, tilting body supports medially pivoted upon and supported by said bases and eacln embodying parallel sets of guide rails, and rollersjournaled between said guide rails and lying below the top edges thereof, and a load carrying body comprising longitudinal bottom stringers, and runner shoes extending longitudinally of and secured to said stringers and having their opposite end porltions recurved in an upward direction and secured to said load carrying body fat a higher elevation than the main bodies of the runner shoes, said stringers and shoes being positioned and slidable between said guide rails and upon said rollers.

2. In load handling apparatus, the combination of two supporting bases one of which is movable in relation to the other, tilting body supports medially pivoted upon and supported by said bases and each embodying parallel sets of guide rails, and rollers journaled between said guide rails and lying below the top edges thereoffand a load carrying body comprising longitudinal bottom stringers, runner shoes extending longitudinally of and secured to said stringers and having their opposite end portions recurved in an upward direction and secured to said load carrying body at a higher elevation than the main bodies of the runner shoes, said stringers and shoes bein positioned and slida'ble between said gui e rails 'and upon said rollers, means for tilting said body supports to bring the adjacent ends thereof into alinement with each other, and means for actuating said load carrying body comprising a windlass located at one end of one body support, a cable thereon, another windlass having its axis coincident with the pivotal center of the other body support, and a cable on the last named windlass.

In testimony whereof we aiiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT C. MENTZER. ROBERT E. DUPREY; Witnesses:

JAMES J. LEDGARD, ALEXANDER J. BoURKE. 

